The sad-BJP Government may have done little to double the state’s revenue or productivity, but it certainly has doubled the leisure time of its employees by increasing the number of gazetted holidays from 16 to 28.Last Friday, for instance, the state Government offices remained closed to mark the birth anniversary of Baba Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak Dev. Though most employees seemed to know little or nothing about the venerable Sri Chand, they were happy to enjoy an extended weekend.An official said the holiday was declared on the demand of Baba Sri Chand’s followers in Faridkot district, which happens to be represented by Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD working president.The list of new holidays is quite eclectic and includes Id-ul-Zuha, Maha Shivratri, birth anniversary and martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Baisakhi, birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, Parshuram Jayanti, May Day, Janamashtami, Vishwakarma Day, martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur and Agarsain Jayanti.Harcharan Bains, media adviser to Punjab Chief Minister, said: “All these holidays have been declared keeping in mind the sentiments of different sections of people.”The state Government employees enjoy over 125 offs, including weekends, in a year. Add to it their individual quota of casual, privilege as well as sick leave and you are looking at a Government machinery that works only 210-odd days a year.On the holiday system in Government offices, eminent historian and former head of History Department of Punjab University Dr Kirpal Singh said, “There should be a cap on holidays. It’s not right to declare a holiday on one pretext or the other, for it discourages a healthy work culture.”In fact, the official website of the Punjab Government itself underlines the pitfalls of too much time out. “It is useful to note that when two or three week days are official holidays, little work gets transacted because many government officials, particularly at junior level, take an additional day or two off, to turn the entire week into a vacation.”Two years ago, the then Congress Government had taken a decision to slash the number of public holidays to 16 for the convenience of the general public.
